Myanmar's Suu Kyi poised for historic debut in parliament

May 01, 2012|Reuters

* Party ends boycott, agrees to take swearing-in oath

* Suu Kyi says flexibility necessary to achieve goals

By Martin Petty

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, May 2 (Reuters) - Myanmar pro-democracyleader Aung San Suu Kyi is set to make her debut in parliamenton Wednesday marking a historic development for the country andfor the Nobel laureate who waged a two-decade struggle againstmilitary dictatorship.

The 66-year-old Suu Kyi will take the oath at parliament inNaypyitaw, joining a political system making a transition to afragile democracy in a country that wilted under 49 years ofinept and oppressive army rule.

Suu Kyi and 36 members of her National League for Democracy(NLD) party who swept by-elections on April 1 will take theirseats in the imposing assembly after backing off a demand for achange to the wording of the oath new members take.

The dispute with the ruling army-backed party over the oathraised fears for a delicate detente with President Thein Sein, aformer junta general who has overseen a year of sweeping reformsin the resource-rich but impoverished country.

Suu Kyi agreed on Monday to stick to the original wording,and she will swear to protect a constitution drafted undermilitary direction that she says is undemocratic and needs to beamended to reduce the political role of the armed forces.

"We've always believed in being flexible throughout theyears of our struggle because that is the only way in which wecan achieve our goal without violence," Suu Kyi told a newsconference in Yangon on Tuesday.

"I don't think flexibility will be a new concept for us."

Suu Kyi's entry into Myanmar's political system comes afteryears of stubborn resistance to the army's attempts to enshrineits grip on power.

While Suu Kyi and many of her supporters were in detentionin 1990, her NLD swept an election which the military ignored.The NLD walked out of the military's constitution-draftingprocess in the mid-1990s.

SUSPICION

The party boycotted a general election in November 2010,when Suu Kyi was again under house arrest, saying the poll wasrigged in favour of the military-backed Union Solidarity andDevelopment Party (USDP).

The USDP won an overwhelming victory, but a new governmentunder President Thein Sein embarked on political and economicreforms and he persuaded Suu Kyi to enter the political process.

In response to the reforms, Western powers that for yearsisolated the country over its human rights record, driving itinto close ties with giant neighbour China, have begun to liftsanctions.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of the leader of Myanmar's campaignfor independence from British rule, will take up her seatalongside uniformed generals and scores of retired military menin the USDP.

But there's deep suspicion on both sides and friction couldbe looming.

The NLD won all but one of the 44 seats it contested in lastmonth's by-elections after a campaign in which Suu Kyi made theamendment of the 2008 constitution a central theme.

The charter gives the military wide powers, including theability to appoint cabinet members, take control in a state ofemergency and occupy a quarter of seats in parliament.

The NLD had refused to take the oath to "safeguard theconstitution". Instead, it wanted to swear to "respect" it.Countering suggestions it had backed down, the party said onMonday it still disputed the wording.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was in Myanmar thisweek for talks with government leaders and Suu Kyi, praised thepresident as a visionary leader and welcomed Suu Kyi's decisionto take her assembly seat.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, whomet Suu Kyi last week, also welcomed the NLD's decision and saidit could now get to work on the country's problems.

"The important aspect from our point of view is to have herand other parliamentarians from the NLD in parliament," Ashtontold a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.

"In terms of the constitution, I think this is for them towork out now that Aung San Suu Kyi has come in to parliament."

(Additional reporting by Thu Rein Hlaing in Naypyitaw and AmySawitta Lefevre in Bangkok; Editing by Robert Birsel)